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White House Releases 2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
Practical Law Legal Update 7-532-4246 (Approx. 4 pages)
White House Releases 2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
by PLC Intellectual Property & Technology
| Published on 24 Jun 2013 • USA (National/Federal) |
The US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) has released the White House's "2013 Joint Strategic Plan for Intellectual Property Enforcement." As part of the strategic plan, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has requested public comments on the effectiveness and transparency of voluntary initiatives developed by the private sector to reduce online infringement such as copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting.
On June 20, 2013, the US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) released the White House's 2013 Joint Strategic Plan for Intellectual Property Enforcement. The Plan summarizes progress that the Administration has made in intellectual property enforcement since the last Joint Strategic Plan was issued in 2010 and sets out the Administration's initiatives for the next three years.
Specifically, the Plan sets out:
- 26 specific action items, including, for example:
- Reviewing domestic legislation to ensure that it is effective and current.
- Educating authors on how fair use works to allow creation of new works.
- Increasing support for small- and medium-sized companies seeking to expand into foreign markets.
- Collecting information on labor conditions in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit and pirated goods oversees.
- Performance data for the last four years on law enforcement investigations and prosecution, and Department of Homeland Security intellectual property seizures.
- Summaries of relevant federal agencies' 2013 major intellectual property enforcement activities to date.
- An annex of the administration's intellectual property enforcement legislative recommendations enacted.
The administration is also seeking additional public input in two areas:
- How to make patent enforcement at US borders efficient and transparent.
- Whether voluntary initiatives the administration has encouraged the private sector to take to reduce online infringement such as copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting work well and have a positive impact.
USPTO Seeks Comment on Voluntary Initiatives to Reduce Online Infringement
As part of the Plan, the USPTO issued a Federal Register notice requesting public comments on voluntary initiatives to reduce online infringement, in particular, the processes, data metrics and methodologies, that could be used to assess the effectiveness of cooperative agreements and other voluntary initiatives. It also specifically seeks input on the following questions:
- How should the effectiveness of cooperative voluntary initiatives be defined?
- What type of data would be useful for measuring the effectiveness of voluntary initiatives aimed at reducing infringement and what would that data show?
- If the data is not readily available, how could it be obtained?
- Are there particular impediments to measuring effectiveness, and if so, what are they?
- What mechanisms can assist in measuring the voluntary initiatives' effectiveness?
- Is there existing data on the efficacy of particular practices, processes or methodologies for voluntary initiatives, and if so, what is it and what does it show?
Written comments should be submitted electronically through https://www.regulations.gov/, using docket number PTO-2013-0036. Submissions should contain the term "Voluntary Best Practices Study." Comments are due on or before July 22, 2013.